


No. 1

by CherryEmbly



Category: No. 6 (Anime & Manga)
Genre: Angst, Eventual Smut, Explicit Language, F/M, Fluff, Fluff and Angst, I hate tags, M/M, Post-Canon, Violence, i'll add as i go - Freeform
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2016-06-14
Updated: 2016-06-26
Packaged: 2018-07-15 02:16:05
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Major Character Death
Chapters: 3
Words: 6,824
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/7202198
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/CherryEmbly/pseuds/CherryEmbly
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Years after the fall of No. 6, Nezumi, Inukashi, and Rikiga travel the world together to learn the secrets behind No. 1, the epicenter of the districts, and home to "The President" whom still threatens to drag the world into darkness.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Prologue

**Author's Note:**

> The notes are plentiful but I'll try and spread them out as they become relevant. 
> 
> Most Important Notes: Names. 
> 
> I call "Nezumi" "Rat." Not because I don't know that his name is "Nezumi" and not "Rat" or because I'm a silly american who watched the subbed version and attached "Rat" to his name (okay, maybe that's a little why), but a major storyline develops as a result of his name being "Rat." 
> 
> I had NO idea that Dogkeeper's name was Inukashi, that is American ignorance. It's fairly irrelevant in the grand scheme of things, because their names change in this fic anyway, but I wanted you to be aware. 
> 
> Things get a little dicey. I would say in terms of graphic depictions of violence and not "lovey-dovey" sex, this fic is, far and away, the most intense I've gotten. No rape, but prostitution for sure. Also there is an eventual major character death. :( 
> 
> Last note, for this chapter specifically, this is a teaser chapter of sorts. It's a Prologue.

With the vision of a destroyed No. 6 before them, and nothing but the smell of smoke and death in the air; a conversation takes place. 

“Well, it’s what you always wanted. How do you feel?”

“Empty.”

“What do we do now?”

_No reply._

“I’m certainly not afraid to admit that I’ll miss that weird guy.” 

“Yeah…”

“Are you in love with him?”

“Yeah.” 

“Serves you right for getting too attached.” 

_No reply._

“Still, he had this way about him. Made you feel human again, you know?”

_No reply._

“Why don’t you stay?”

“I can’t.” 

“Why?”

_No reply._

“Look, it’s me or nobody.”

“I can’t stay because I’ll change him.” 

“Change him?”

“Yeah.”

“Is that bad?”

“For him it is. He’s perfect now. He can only go downhill.” 

“Sounds like an excuse to me.” 

“It’s not.” 

“You sure?” 

“It’s not.” 

“Okay…” 

“It’s not. I wouldn’t be here if that’s what it was about. I’ve already gotten over the fear of having something to protect. Damaging him beyond repair is what truly scares me.”

“You lost.” 

“Hm?”

“As soon as you find something to protect…” 

“...Yeah…” 

“Man, it sucks doesn’t it?”

“What?”

“You give up everything. You stake all your hopes on the small possibility that you can find happiness like everyone else and just like that it’s gone.” 

“If he’s happy, I’m happy.” 

“That’s all you want? Can you live your life that way?” 

_No reply._

“How far you’ve fallen; you used to be a man of many answers.” 

“You’re one to talk.” 

“...Did he tell you?” 

“I could tell.” 

“I guess I lost too. That secret was the one thing I wanted to protect.” 

“Why?”

“The world treats you differently.” 

“Well, I’m not going to tell, so as long as time will allow, your secret is safe.”

“...Thanks.” 

“Yeah.” 

“What do we do now?”

“You already asked that.”

“You didn’t answer.” 

“Because I don’t know.” 

“I don’t know either.” 

“They have nothing to do with each other.” 

“Like hell they do.”

“What do you mean?” 

“Don’t forget that you owe me, Rat.” 

“How’s that?”

“My payment for this last job.” 

“I paid you.” 

“You gave me gold to help get the job done, have you forgotten the payment?” 

“It seems I have.” 

“You promised you would be there for me if death came. That you would try your hardest to protect me and if I died that you would sing my soul away.” 

_No reply._

“So what will you do?”

“I could just kill you now and sing your soul away and not have to worry about it.”

“You could, but you won’t.” 

“You don’t think so?”

“Nope, because he changed you too.” 

_No reply._

“And I know you don’t like to carry around debts.” 

“So I’ve just become your bodyguard?”

“Looks like it. Rat.” 

“Then I guess I should be the one asking you what we’re going to do now?” 

“I don’t know.” 

“You’re leading so I guess we’ll just have to sit here until you figure it out.” 

“I guess so.” 

“I don’t want to be called ‘Rat’ anymore.” 

“Discarding your name won’t discard your past.” 

“Just call me ‘Eve.’” 

“Should I just assume everything from now on is part of an act then?”

“Do what you want.” 

“Since we’re changing names; I don’t want to be ‘Dogkeeper’ anymore.” 

“What will you be?”

“I don‘t know.”

“What were you before?”

“I don’t remember.”

“You could abbreviate... D.K.?”

“Like the video game monkey?”

“He’s a gorilla.” 

“No.” 

“K.D.?”

“K.D….” 

“Is it good?”

“Good enough.” 

“Fine. Then let us leave ‘Rat’ and ‘Dogkeeper’ here with the ashes of No. 6, lest the scars of neither follow us forward.” 

“Very poetic, Eve.” 

“Since it seems the two of you are sticking together then, why not allow me to come too?” 

“Why would we drag you along old man?”

“I’ll carry my own weight. If at any point I can’t, leave me to die.” 

“You won’t have to worry about that, Rikiga.” 

“Besides it’s only fitting; we all have something in common.” 

“What’s that?”

“Shion changed us.” 

“Huh, I guess that’s true old man.” 

_No reply._


	2. K.D. & Eve

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> It's 10 years since the fall of No. 6 and K.D. & Eve have committed to finding out more about No. 1, the epicenter than still seems to be perpetuating the same hate and anger that caused all the problems in No. 6.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> No disclaimers as of yet, don't worry, I PROMISE to keep you posted with rating changes and such. :)

“K.D., wake up. It’s time to go.” 

Eve stared down at K.D. tangled recklessly in the sheets on the bed. 

“No.” She replied with clear agitation.

“You said you wanted to leave before the sun came up.” 

“I changed my mind.” 

“You can’t. It’s time to go.” 

K.D. reached out and pulled the nearby blanket all the way over her head, hiding her long brown hair beneath it. Eve sighed annoyed by the same morning routine every day. Of all the directions he saw his life going in, slave to a brat was not one of them. He used his left hand to aggressively pull back the blanket and sheets, pulling her wrists together with his right hand, restraining them above her head and climbing on top of her as he did so. He brought his face close to hers, dropping a lock of his own long blue hair over her cheek. He was close enough to see the complete lack of shock or fear in her eyes. 

“I’m sick of doing the same thing every morning, so I thought I would change it up.” He whispered devilishly at her. 

“Oh yeah? Go for it then, you have complete control of the situation anyway.” She craned her head forward, bringing her lips toward his. Just as they were about to make contact, Eve turned his face away. K.D. scoffed. “You wouldn’t know what to do with me even if you did want it.” 

K.D. wedged her knee in-between the pair of them and lunged hard, sending a sharp, piercing, pain into Eve’s stomach. “Idiot. Don’t climb on top of me if you aren’t actually planning on doing anything. 

Eve climbed down of the bed and rubbed the part of his stomach where K.D. kneed him as he glared at her angrily. “Get up.” 

“Well I’m up now, you got me all excited.” 

“Ever since you turned into a woman, I find you harder and harder to resist.” Eve said sarcastically. 

K.D. climbed out of bed, wrapping her hair up in a bun on top of her head. She crossed the room to the chair where her blazer, boots and gun were and began to get dressed. “I would expect the opposite from you. Last time I checked, I wasn’t Shion.” She winced as the words left her mouth. 

She turned and Eve was crouched down on the ground with his head against his knees. 

“I’m sorry, I shouldn’t have said that.” 

Even ten years later, a single mention of Shion, and Eve fell into depression. He was the epitome of ‘absence makes the heart grow fonder’ because even having not seen him for all this time, his love and devotion to him only grew. 

K.D. placed her hands on her hip angrily. “Don’t make me console you, Eve, you know I hate doing that.” 

Light was starting to peer into the dusky room casting a faint glow over the old architecture. K.D. was annoyed, but more with herself for not being more careful. She knew the situation and still provoked it regularly. Despite being told by Rikiga several times that she was only making her own life harder, knowing Eve’s only weakness made her feel more powerful than him. 

“Eve, get up. You want to restore balance so you can go back to him right? That’s what you decided.” 

“Yeah.” The words muffled out of Eve’s lap. 

K.D. glanced around the room, grabbing a book from the nearby desk. 

“Then get up!” She chucked the book hard at his head. It smashed against the left side of his skull, shocking and infuriating him. 

“What the fuck!?”

“I told you I don’t like consoling people. I’m not good at it! Get the hell up so we can go!” 

Eve rubbed his temple angrily. 

K.D. picked up Eve’s shirt, shawl, scarf, bag, and pocket knife and threw them on the floor in front of him. 

“You’re hurrying me to get up, you’d think at the very least you’d be ready.” 

“I knew waking you up would take longer, so I started there.” 

K.D. watched him slide his shirt over his head, and then his shawl, shoving his scarf and knife in his bag in just a couple, quick motions. She smirked. “Yeah, it is much easier to get dressed as a man.” 

“Don’t tell me you miss it?” Eve mocked, but K.D. said nothing. 

Eve pulled his bag over his head, and let the bulk of it rest at his waist and marched past K.D. angrily. He opened the door and walked out of the bedroom into the common area where Rikiga was helter-skelter on the sofa with all his blankets and pillows in a heap on the floor next to him. Several bottles of alcohol sat empty on the coffee table, and several beer cans were scattered about the floor. Eve gagged as he spied an unidentifiable pile of liquid near the bathroom door. 

“Fucking drunk.” K.D. hissed as she kicked blankets and cans aside. She looked down into a coffee mug on the table. She lifted it and shot an evil smile backwards at Eve. “Do you think this coffee is old or fresh?” 

Eve knew what was coming next. He silently wished that it was old as K.D. emptied the contents of the mug over Rikiga’s face and chest. 

Eve was comforted by the lack of smoke and screaming, and discerned that he must have gotten the coffee the night before to try and quell his illness from drinking. He began to flail about moronically, coughing as some of the coffee dripped into his mouth. 

“Good morning, handsome.” K.D. joked. 

“Why did you do that!? Eve, why didn’t you stop her!?” Rikiga reached over the edge of the couch and pulled the sheet up to wipe away the coffee. 

“She threw a book at me, you got off easy.” 

“I’m going to be all sticky now!” Rikiga moaned. 

“Well doesn’t that suck for you?” K.D. teased. Rikiga whined further pissing her off. “Honestly, I’m the woman in this situation, but I feel like the disparity in emotional and physical strength between me and you guys, is large enough to fit an actual man!” 

She crossed the room to the front door and opened it forcefully. “We’re leaving; we’ve pressed our luck enough with this place.” 

“Wait, I’m gonna take a shower first.” Rikiga called out, standing up and glancing pitifully at Eve. 

Eve met Rikiga’s gaze briefly before heading for the door himself. “We don’t have time, splash some water on yourself and let’s go.” 

Rikiga moaned with frustration as he donned his suit shirt and vest. He grabbed a hat and half-empty bottle of rum from an end table near the door, shoved his tie into his pocket and followed Eve and K.D. out the front door. As the door was about to close, he reached around to the inside of the door, twisted the little lock on the doorknob, and pulled the door closed behind him. 

“We got four days out of this place, that’s not bad.” He huffed out as he balanced the hat on his head. 

“It’s only Thursday, so we probably could have gotten away with another one, but better not to press our luck.” K.D. called back. 

The three of them had been squatting for the past three years. Finding shops and homes with no patrons and using subtle clues to tell if people were temporarily out or if the places were abandoned. Rikiga was especially good at finding places they could stay for multiple days and K.D. took odd pride in being mentioned in the media after a while. They never cleaned up behind themselves, and were mistaken for robbers, though people could never ‘discover’ what the thieves had taken. 

They turned out of the front yard, onto the main avenue, facing the sun. Withering trees laid out before them, painting the tale of a once beautiful neighborhood. 

“No. 2 shouldn’t be much further ahead now.” K.D. puffed out. 

The three of them began walking quietly down the abandoned road. Despite being modern, the lack of up-keep made the area look ancient. Shrubs were overgrown, wrapping vines and leaves around fences, and autumn leaves lay strewn about the various yards. Cars that probably hadn’t been driven, or even touched, in decades decorated some of the driveways, but the broken windows and chipped paint of the houses communicated desolation. Still the house they just left showed signs of life; Rikiga guessed the people that lived there had left for a vacation of some type or had recently been moved to No. 2. 

“It’s still a bit surprising to me that there’s such a nice development lying outside the city. Do you think the officials know it’s here?” Rikiga commented, sipping his rum. 

“Doubtful. They may not all be as bad as No. 6, but the core team was all the same. That means they all have the same ideals and values. They wouldn’t allow such prosperity if they knew it was here.” Eve explained. 

“Besides.” K.D. started. “You can tell that there were things that once used to work out here, like cars, that no longer do. I bet they figured out valuable resources were being smuggled outside the city, and cut them off. I’m certain No. 2 has a Correctional Facility full of ‘criminals’ just like No. 6 did.” 

Memories of No. 6’s facility came flooding into Eve’s mind, temporarily disabling him. He stopped moving as the memories came to a stop on the face of the man he loved whom he hadn’t seen in 10 years. 

“Eve?”

Eve started moving again, ignoring the familiar knots in his stomach; he’d grown accustomed to them. “Come on, we’ll miss our connection if we don’t hurry.” 

In no time, his hurried strides pulled him far ahead of the group. He’d grown quite tall over the course of the last several years, whereas Rikiga and K.D. had both tapered off, so when he truly needed to be faster or stronger than them, he didn’t have much trouble. Thinking back over the last few years, he was happy they hadn’t had many scraps where he had to exert his power. Twice with Rikiga for getting too rowdy with he and K.D. when he was drunk and once with K.D., not including this morning, because she seriously tried to cut his hair. 

“We have plenty of time Eve, slow down.” K.D. called to him, but he ignored her. 

The glistening green dome of No. 2 was close enough now for them to see the hexagonal panels the dome was made of. Unlike No. 6 that contained its inhabitants via a hard to scale wall, No. 2 was a dome with several entrances scattered about it. Also unlike No. 6, identification wasn’t as strict, and since the collapse of No. 6, people had begun to abuse the system so it wasn’t hard to bribe someone to let them in and out of the cities. 

“This is the one.” Rikiga slurred out. When the three finally reached a door marked ‘entrance 4’ in the late morning. . 

K.D. approached the entrance and placed her hand on the heat-sensing pad next to the entrance. 

A gruff voice sounded off from an unknown location. “State your name and purpose.” 

“My name is Ren. My father, brother and I are here to see Dr. Valskov about an illness my father has.” The three of them never used their real names for protection. K.D. and Eve were brother and sister named ‘Ren’ and ‘Ben’ and Rikiga, or ‘Mio,’ was their father. 

The voice didn’t respond for a few minutes, and Eve’s terrible anxiety sent doubts racing through his mind that Rikiga’s information was bad. He jumped a bit when the voice finally called back to them. 

“Yes, Lady Ren, I see here that your father suffers from Erectile Dysfunction and you’re looking for assistance.”

Eve smirked, but K.D. held it together as Rikiga growled. “I’ll have you know that everything works fine thank you.” 

“Shut up.” Eve cursed back at him. 

“Yes. I know it sounds silly but he’s getting on in age and my brother and I want to help him experience life’s full pleasures before he dies.” 

K.D. sounded quite convincing despite the fact that she was shaking from snickering. 

“That’s…. More than enough information, thank you. Take a few steps backward please.” 

K.D. stepped backward so that she was closer to where Eve and Rikiga were standing. Despite the dome’s design which suggested the doors may part, a single door panel slowly sunk into the ground. 

K.D., Rikiga and Eve walked slowly into the dome, discovering a slightly smaller dome still separated them from the city. 

“Is it possible they’re even less secure than No. 6 was?” Eve questioned.

“Not likely.” K.D. responded. 

Soon, a rotund man walked out from the second dome and approached them. “Ren?” He was burly and unkempt. He wore a white button-up shirt with a hospital badge hanging unevenly around his neck. 

“Yes, hello.” K.D. replied, walking forward to meet his handshake. 

Eve saw it immediately; the glimmer in his eyes as he shook K.D.’s hand; the pure, disgusting, excitement. Instead of the traditional handshake, he shook her hand for a brief moment before gently lifting her hand to his mouth, kissing the back of it. 

“I’m glad you’ve come. Introduce me to your family.” He spoke calmly and slyly.

Of the characters the three of them had come to do business with in the past ten years, Eve’s skin crawled the most at this one. “Ugh.” Rikiga moaned behind him. It wasn’t a drunk moan; Rikiga shared Eve’s sentiments. 

K.D. turned, placing her back completely to the man, and approached them slowly. She stuck her tongue out and rolled her eyes. When they were close enough K.D. stopped and the man stopped nearly touching her, grossly allowing his hand to rest in the nebulous space between the base of her lower back and top of her butt. 

“This is my brother, Ben and my father Mio.” K.D. motioned to each of them as she introduced them. 

“Wonderful to meet you both.” He smiled at them in a way that made Eve’s stomach turn. “Follow me, my lab is just this way. Let’s see if we can’t do something about that little problem of yours.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I had to go for the Erectile Dysfunction joke, because despite my adult-like life and appearance, I have the mental capacity for avoiding penis jokes of a twelve year old.


	3. Too Much to Drink

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Disturbed by K.D.'s 'line of work', Eve and Rikiga decide to drown their sorrows in alcohol.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Trigger Warnings: Implied Prostitution, Implied Sex, Non-Graphic Violence

Disconcerting grunts, groans and moans could be heard from the other side of the door. Eve stared down at his feet, trying his hardest to push the noise away, but Rikiga stared attentively at the door. Eve looked up, changing from a serious expression to a sad one when he saw the pain on Rikiga’s face. 

“It never get’s easier does it?” Eve commented, but Rikiga said nothing. “I would expect it to be a little easier for you though.” 

Without looking back at him, Rikiga opened his mouth. “Why?”

“You did this for a living remember? Or has your brain begun to wither away of alcohol poisoning?” Again Rikiga said nothing. Eve knew that conversation was the best way to drown out the noise, so he was desperate to continue talking. “Sorry. I shouldn’t assume that your previous line of work would make you less sensitive to this.” 

“No, you’re right. It should be easier.” He sighed deeply. 

“Don’t focus on it so much Rikiga, you’re making it worse.” 

Dejectedly Rikiga turned and faced Eve. He lifted the glass of gin in front of him and drank it all in one gulp. Eve reached out and slid his own glass towards Rikiga. 

“I thought you wanted me to quit drinking?” He chuckled, as he stared at the glass. 

The noises from the other room got slightly louder, and a rhythmic bang started up. Rikiga winced and grabbed Eve’s glass, likewise swallowing all of the contents. 

“You can start quitting tomorrow.” Eve smiled, but it did little to ease the tension of the situation. 

Rikiga looked near tears. Eve felt the pressing need to question the emotions. “Are you in love with her?”

Rikiga dropped the glass back on the table. “Of course not, she’s young enough to be my granddaughter.” Despite his best efforts not to, he eventually turned and looked back at the door. “You know Eve, on a couple of occasions family members of some of my girls would approach me, asking me to stop. I never forced my girls you know, they all came to me of their own volition…” Rikiga’s words were slurred with drunkenness but that somehow failed to reduce their seriousness. “They would yell at me, trying to get me to quit the business all together so they could have their family members back. To try and reason with me they would say ‘imagine if this was your daughter!’” 

Eve didn’t need him to keep going to understand. His own throat burned with sadness as Rikiga told his story. 

“I would laugh at them. Laugh, Eve. I would say shit like ‘but she’s not’ or ‘if my daughter wanted to whore herself out, I’d let her.’ Remembering that now…” A few gentle tears started to fall from Rikiga’s eyes. “I finally understand what they were talking about, and it’s making me hate myself. It’s making me wish that you would just finish me off.” 

“I won’t.” Eve stated with harsh resolve. 

“I know.” Rikiga didn’t wipe his tears as they began to fall more feverishly. “I hate this. I hate him. I hate me. I hate what I did. I hate who I am.” 

“Rikiga, calm down.” Eve didn’t question his sadness but knew he was also drunk.

“Why!?” He pounded his fist on the table, rattling both glasses. “Why does he get to do that to her!? Why does she let him!?” 

“Maybe the better question is, why do we let her?” Eve asked himself more than Rikiga. “She’s right. She’s so much stronger than us. We’re supposed to be the men, but we’re letting her carry most of the burden.” 

Rikiga looked back at Eve with tears in his eyes. 

Eve continued. “If we hate it so much, then let’s just not let her do it anymore.”

“It’s not like she’ll listen to us if we tell her that.” 

“We don’t need to tell her, we just need to…” The next word that was about to come out made Eve stop and question everything. 

“...force her?” Rikiga finished. The irony of the wording weighed too heavily on the conversation and brought it to an abrupt halt. 

Eve truly didn’t think Rikiga would survive the end of it. The soft and quiet grunts and moans that one can pretend belong to a different activity through delusion, are child’s play compared to the unambiguous sounds as the man finished, or the deafening silence that followed.

What felt like an eternity passed before the door finally opened and K.D. came out, tying her hair into a bun on her head, with, what looked like a wallet, gripped in her mouth. 

When she finished tying her hair back, she pulled the wallet out of her mouth and smiled. “Let’s go. Along with the information we needed, I also got us a way into the city and money to spend there!” 

She seemed oddly innocent as she crossed the room to the exit in excitement. Maybe it was the severe comparison of her mood to Eve and Rikiga’s but Eve suddenly started thinking about the young, feisty girl he met back when he first escaped to the West District from No. 6. She was only nine at the time, and he thought she was a boy, but she swore like a sailor and held her own against even the scariest men in town. She was constantly surrounded by a fierce pack of dogs that she had near magical control of, and used them to operate a motel and covert information-seeking business. The memories made him even more sad to see where she was now. 

With the “doctor’s” ID badge, the three entered the city around dusk. Several bars and restaurants littered the avenues, but it was an unspoken rule between them that they never entered anything fancier than a dive. Rikiga, who had something likened to a radar for alcohol, finally turned off the main road, down an alley, to a door with a small, poorly lit “No.2’s No.1” neon sign above it. K.D. pulled the door open gently and a waft of smoke flew out the door towards them. 

Inside, they found a table to sit at, but Rikiga quickly dismissed himself and found a seat better suited for him directly at the bar. A thin waitress with blond hair in a ponytail approached their table after a strangely short period of time. 

“Hello there, young lovers.” She started. Her voice was melodic yet raspy. Eve figured the amount of smoke in the bar had taken it’s toll on a, once sweet, voice. 

“No.” K.D. replied, as she stared down at the single panel menu in front of her. 

The comment was rude but the waitress seemed delighted. She turned from her neutral stance, to face Eve more than K.D. and let her gaze fall upon him. “Can I get you… anything?” She asked, emphasizing ‘anything.’ He felt immediately nervous. He’d been hit on plenty of times in his life, but lately the feeling made him anxious. The kind of nervous feeling you get when someone is peeping on you while you’re showering. The emotion was recent but significant and it was the most bizarre feeling; Eve hated it. 

“Uh, Ren. Do you know what you want?” Eve avoided the waitress’ gaze and instead stared at the menu K.D. was looking at, doing his best to decipher the words from upside down. 

K.D. looked up at the waitress. “I want this whisky burger. Feel free to add extra whisky, fries WITH cheese, and a long-island.” 

The waitress scratched away at her ticket book. “We have a regular long-island or a top she--” 

“The good stuff please.” K.D. smiled. 

The waitress looked back at Eve with a seductive look on her face. “And you, sexy?” 

“Get over it, he’s gay.” K.D. barked as she looked around the bar at the different patrons. 

Eve’s cheeks turned pink as he glared at K.D. The waitress stared at Eve as though she was trying to figure out whether or not it was telling the truth. She raised an eyebrow. Eve knew he didn’t necessarily send off what some might immaturely call the ‘gay vibe’ but defined sexuality was something he thought about very little, especially since leaving No. 6. He was aware of his feelings for one specific person, and that that one person was a man, but hearing himself described as ‘gay’ was weird. 

Finally the waitress smiled, sultriness gone from her face. “You have someone special don’t you?” Eve thought about the question. He certainly was special, but the word ‘have’ could not be used to describe their relationship in any sense. He began to feel sad and anxious again, as his stomach twisted and turned in frustration. His face must have shown his true emotions because the waitress suddenly changed the subject. “Oh, um, I mean, would you like something?” She blushed with embarrassment. 

“Just a vodka shot.” Eve responded. 

“I’ll bring a few, on me.” The waitress replied. She bowed her head nervously and nearly tripped as she hurried away from the table. 

K.D. scoffed. “Made her plenty nervous, and free drinks!” Eve dropped his head down and let it fall on the table; he was depressed. “Oh, come on.” K.D. whined, knocking him lightly on the back of his head. 

The waitress came back quickly with the drinks. She took one of the ten vodka shots she brought and nudged Eve’s head. 

Eve looked up at the waitress who smiled sweetly back at him. “I’m sorry. I made you start thinking about him. Break-ups are shit right?” Eve snatched the glass, chugged the shot, set the glass down and put his head back down on the table. “He must have been pretty amazing.” The waitress commented. “Also pretty stupid. You’re so hot.” 

“It was my fault.” Eve mumbled into the table. 

“They were just on different paths.” K.D. interjected. The pinch in her voice clearly articulated ‘leave’ to the waitress, who set the rest of the drinks down and left without another word. 

“Here drink another one.” K.D. pushed the glass towards Eve whose stomach was already burning with reminders of why he didn’t drink. 

“I don’t want them. I just wanted one.” Eve replied. 

“Oh stop, what 26 year old doesn’t drink.” 

“You have them.” 

“What, are you trying to get me wasted so I’m easier to bed tonight?” She giggled, but Eve was in no mood for humor. 

“I’m gay, remember?” 

“Jeez, what’s your deal tonight? Just get over it like you do every other day.” 

“I don’t want to.” 

“What?”

“I don’t want to get over it. Once this pain goes away, that’s it for me. I’m a dead person being forced to continue living to protect you from disgusting men and drunk Rikiga.” 

“Do you want me to kill you?” K.D. asked plainly. 

Eve slid his head upward so his chin was resting on the table and he could meet K.D.’s eyes. “What?”

“If you’re so miserable. I’ll just kill you then. I’ll be fine.” 

“Would you?”

“What?”

“Kill me. Could you actually?”

“Why wouldn’t I be able to?”

Eve thought of the reason. He couldn’t kill K.D. or Rikiga now even if they asked him to. Spending ten years with the same people; you grow attached. He knew that K.D. had one rule, from way back from when she was still Dogkeeper, but did it really still hold true? Was she unattached?

Something suddenly banged the table, shuffling the drinks, and causing bits of the shots to spill over the edge of their glasses.  
“Zhatguyovertherlikesyousayheknowsaboutno.1.” Rikiga slumped sloppily down into the chair next to Eve, who’d changed his mind, and was halfway through the vodka shots. 

“You’re worse than normal.” She glanced at Eve downing the shots. “What’s with you two? Did I miss something?” 

“Don’tstalk to thammman.” Rikiga slurred out. 

“Why? You just said he know’s about No. 1. That’s our goal. I’ll go talk to him.” 

“Nn-n-no.” Rikiga reached out as K.D. stood up, but he felt off his chair and slammed face-down on the ground. 

“Get up Dad! Seriously, you two are too much today. Get it together before I get back. Eat my fries when they come to soak up some of that alcohol.” 

The shots of vodka were hitting Eve hard. Even though Rikiga spilled some of them when he crashed into the table, Eve was nearly done with them by then, and he’d had nothing to eat that day. He felt pleased as the knots of sorrow in his stomach took the feelings of queasiness and left, but he knew it was a bad sign; he was passing quickly from buzzed, to drunk. 

The same waitress from before approached their table nervously with a tray topped with food, and more drinks. She set the tray on the table and turned her attention to Rikiga who was squirming idiotically on the floor. “Sir, are you okay?” She asked as she reached down and grabbed one of his arms, but the too far gone Rikiga mis-read the situation and aggressively pulled the waitress down on top of him. 

The room was swirling a bit, but Eve was still sober enough to know he needed to gain control of Rikiga. He maneuvered his way out of his chair, bumping the table he thought he was further from as he did so. He walked around the table, unsure why the space between the table and the wall was suddenly much more narrow, and stood above Rikiga and the oddly calm waitress. 

“Dad, let the nice woman go.” He blurted out. 

He reached down and wedged his arms in between the waitress and Rikiga, pulling Rikiga back a bit, allowing the waitress to wiggle free of his grip in the confusion. Eve released Rikiga and stepped over him towards the waitress. 

She smiled coyly at him and lifted another drink to him. “Another on me because I got you depressed about your ex-boyfriend.” This glass was larger than the others and had a swirl of color in it. Even though everything felt slightly fuzzy, Eve was curious as to how the colorful drink tasted and lifted it from the waitress’ hand. She picked up a similar drink and held it out towards Eve, who clinked his glass against it in ‘cheers’ fashion before quickly gulping it down. 

“What was your ex’s name?” She asked as she swapped her glass out for the empty one in Eve’s hand. 

“Shion.” Eve said, not really realizing what was going on. He took a few drinks of the waitress’ drink that she’d handed to him, barely noticing, and ignoring the surprised look on her face. 

“Shion?” She questioned. 

“SILVER HAIRED ANGEL!” Rikiga shouted, stumbling to his feet. Eve turned his head to watch the debacle. 

“You’re a train wreck, DAD!” He spurted out drunkenly. 

The waitress gently put a hand on Eve’s face turning it back towards her. “Wait, what did you say your name was?” The waitress asked; she sounded panicked. 

Eve blushed, more from rising body heat than the waitresses touch. He focused hard on the question. Even though it was such a simple question, he for some reason found it challenging to answer. “Ben.” He replied meekly; he hoped that was the right answer. 

The waitress pulled her hand back and set it on her hip. “It’s so strange because a few days ago--.” 

A loud crash sounded off behind Eve. Though he was certain it was Rikiga, he turned anyway. In his attempts to stand up, he’d tripped down a set of side-stairs and crashed into a couple uninhabited tables a level down. 

Eve started to take a few steps towards him but out of the corner of his eye he saw K.D. following a strange looking man towards a back room of the bar. 

“No.” He whispered. “K.D. Don’t do that!” He intended to shout but it sounded more like a loud whisper. He turned from Rikiga and started making his way towards K.D.

“Wait, Ben, I have a question!” The waitress called after him.

Eve ignored her, weaving inconsistently around the tables and patrons who were now paying complete attention to him. He felt like he was moving through water; like despite all his best efforts there was a counter-current pushing against him. Forcing his way through, he made his way to the door K.D. and the odd man disappeared into. 

He pushed the door angrily. “STOP!” He screamed, but as the door swung open, he noticed no one was there. 

A few doors lay against the walls, so he approached the first and shoved it open. A woman with glasses and long black curls met his gaze through the mirror above the sink she was facing. 

“Come on in.” She whispered at him. 

“I’m sorry.” He huffed. He backed out of the room, and walked over to the next door. He pushed but it didn’t give and he felt the urgency of getting the door open, he knew they must be behind it. 

He pushed hard a couple times, before finally throwing the weight of his entire body, shoulder first, into the door. There were a couple of loud grunts, and soon Eve was laying face down inside the restroom. K.D. crouched down angrily. 

“Eve, what the hell are you doing!?” 

“Eve? Rat!” The waitress yelled. “RAT!” 

“Wait, what!?” K.D. looked up at the waitress, but before she could ask any further questions, Eve had maneuvered his way to his feet and was tossing a haphazard punch at the muscular man standing just behind K.D. 

“You want to fight me kid?” He growled at Eve. 

“Keep your hands off her.” Eve responded with frustration, pulling his knife out of his pocket and snapping it open. 

“WHOA! Eve! Relax!” 

The man frantically began to back away from Eve, causing him to slip on the damp, tile floor. As he fell, his head smashed down hard on one of the urinals and began to spout blood. 

The waitress screamed and ran from the room. 

“Shit, shit, shit. We have to go.” K.D. said under her breath. She reached over, grabbed Eve’s arm and dragged him from the bathroom. His body flopped around like a ragdoll under her grip as she struggled immensely just to get him back out the door. Confused and agitated K.D. inhaled deeply. “Are you drunk?” 

Eve stumbled and clamored down the hallway. “You can’tdothissuff anymore, Rikiki--kiga and I decided.” 

“What?” She turned and grabbed Eve’s arm, pulling him along quicker. She pushed the door open, and was delighted to discover that the other people in the bar didn’t seem to know what was going on. “Can you make it to the door?” 

Eve nodded cartoonishly, and made his way for the door, using tables, chairs and people for balance as he moved. It took him an oddly long time to solve the mystery of the door handle, but the large blue door finally swung open and he tripped out into the cold air. The wind felt like a punch to the face at first, but the comfortable breeze eventually settled over him and he felt immediately exhausted. He tripped his way back down the alley toward the main road, unable to shake the feeling that he was forgetting something. 

“Fucking... RIKIGA, STAND UP!” 

Eve turned and saw Rikiga and K.D. struggling their way down the alley in the opposite direction. Eve turned and walked back towards them, throwing his body awkwardly into Rikiga in an attempt to help K.D. hold him up. 

“We have to get out of the city, I think there’s an exit this way.” K.D. groaned beneath Rikiga’s weight. 

They made their way ridiculously across the city, stopping at various intervals for Rikiga to throw up. 

By the time they finally made their way out of the city, the moon was high in the sky and K.D.’s rage showed all over her body. The climbed over a nearby hill, and when they got to the top, K.D. released Rikiga, allowing his limp body to roll down the hill. Eve, who was completely out of breath, felt a sudden spurt of dizziness, and barely made it to the bottom of the hill before he fell down, allowing his face to rest in the cool grass. 

K.D. tossed Eve’s bag, that he hadn’t previously noticed she had, directly at his head. Eve closed his eyes as the bag hit him in a similar place to where the book hit him that morning, but found himself rubbing his head in confusion when it didn’t hurt as much as he anticipated it might. 

“I EXPECT THIS FROM HIM, BUT HONESTLY, WHAT THE FUCK IS WRONG WITH YOU!?” 

Eve pulled a hand up to his face, bringing his pointer finger to a stop in front of his lips. “Shh, you’re loud.” 

K.D. stood in complete shock for a minute, before her anger boiled over and she crouched low to Eve and punched him in his eye. 

“OW!” Eve whined uncharacteristically. 

“YOU’RE SHUSHING ME!? YOU CRACKED A GUY’S SKULL OPEN! I THINK HE DIED!”

“We’ve killed pepplpe before.” Eve murmured, 

K.D. stood up, realizing her efforts would be fruitless to talk to them now, and walked several feet away from them and slammed down into a sitting position. 

“Sleep it off you fucking drunks, I’m kicking both your asses in the morning.” She sighed. 

The word ‘sleep’ resonated strong in Eve’s mind. He glanced at Rikiga who’d clearly already passed out. The wind blew strong at his face, but somehow avoided his ears which he realized were burning. Soon he had no ability to hold his eyes open anymore. The unsettled feeling in his stomach returned as he shut his eyes, and he drifted off wondering what happened to the rat the waitress was screaming about in the bathroom at the bar.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This fic hasn't had a TON of interest, some, but not a ton, so I'll update it less frequently unless I start to get requests for it like I do my others. Thanks for reading!

**Author's Note:**

> K.D. and Eve going forward children. :)


End file.
